Mojo Vision
- Amazon, Dolby, Liberty Global and Motorola Solutions are among new and existing investors
- Adidas and others have signed up as partners
- Mojo has now raised US$205 million
Mojo Vision says new partnerships with connected fitness and sports wearable companies, along with US$45 million in additional funding, will accelerate the development of smart contact lens-based products that provide frictionless, real-time information on athletic performance.
Amazon Alexa Fund, PTC, Edge Investments, and HiJoJo Partners participated in Mojo Vision’s Series B-1 funding round, joining existing investors including NEA, Liberty Global Ventures, Advantech Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Motorola Solutions and Open Field Capital.
The new investments bring the total raised by Mojo Vision to US$205 million and will help the company target a booming market for sports applications and devices, while addressing several perceived issues with existing products.
Its research claims that although 74 per cent of athletes now rely on technology to analyse their workouts or training, devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers can interfere with their performance and do not offer enough real-time data.
Mojo Vision believes its smart contact lens technology can address both these issues. The company’s Mojo Lens technology overlays images, symbols and text across a person’s natural field of vision. Users control the interface with their eyes, meaning they don’t have to interrupt their activity to see information, and have constant access to real-time data.
“Today’s wearable devices can be helpful to athletes, but they can also distract them from the focus of the activity; we think there’s a better way to deliver athletic performance data,” said David Hobbs, senior director of product management at Mojo Vision.
“Wearable innovation in existing form factors is starting to reach its limits. At Mojo, we’re interested in better understanding what’s still missing and how we can make that information accessible without disrupting someone’s focus and flow during training — when it matters most.”
Mojo is targeting several user groups, including gym and outdoor enthusiasts, as well as runners, cyclists, golfers and skiers. It hopes its new group of partners will provide relevant market expertise for specific sports, helping to develop products and user interfaces. Adidas Running, Trailforks, Wearable X, Slops and 18 Birdies have all signed up to help create technology that combines augmented reality (AR), wearables and personal performance data.
“We are making important progress in developing our smart contact lens technology, and we continue to research and identify new market potential for this groundbreaking platform,” said Steve Sinclair, head of product and marketing at Mojo Vision.
“Our partnerships with these leading brands will give us valuable insights into user behaviour in the sports and fitness market. The goal is for these collaborations to deliver athletes an entirely new form factor with performance data that is more accessible and useful in the moment.”
